Lecture 1 Handout
Key words:
Identity
Genre
Narrative
Homework
- Purchase required textbook: Understanding Rhetoric: a Graphic Guide to Writing by Losh, Alexander, Cannon, and Cannon. You must have the textbook by next class!
- Join our OpenLab Group:
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/colemaneng1121d430spring2020/
- Narrative Writing Assignment Due Tuesday, February 4th
**Write a short story or poem that describes a vivid memory that was significant to you or reveals something about who you are as a person. In your piece, include sensory details (descriptions of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, physical feelings) to help the reader imagine the scene. Represent at least three of the five senses.
**You piece should be about 250 words. Please include a word count at the top of the page. It should be typed in Times New Roman 12 point font and double-spaced.
**Use this piece as an opportunity to introduce yourself to me. Tell me something about you that I might not otherwise know!
Oranges by Gary Soto
The first time I walked
With a girl, I was twelve,
Cold, and weighted down
With two oranges in my jacket.
December. Frost cracking
Beneath my steps, my breath
Before me, then gone,
As I walked toward
Her house, the one whose
Porch light burned yellow
Night and day, in any weather.
A dog barked at me, until
She came out pulling
At her gloves, face bright
With rouge. I smiled,
Touched her shoulder, and led
Her down the street, across
A used car lot and a line
Of newly planted trees,
Until we were breathing
Before a drugstore. We
Entered, the tiny bell
Bringing a saleslady
Down a narrow aisle of goods.
I turned to the candies
Tiered like bleachers,
And asked what she wanted –
Light in her eyes, a smile
Starting at the corners
Of her mouth. I fingered
A nickel in my pocket,
And when she lifted a chocolate
That cost a dime,
I didn’t say anything.
I took the nickel from
My pocket, then an orange,
And set them quietly on
The counter. When I looked up,
The lady’s eyes met mine,
And held them, knowing
Very well what it was all
About
